Driver Circuit and Method for Driving a Signal

ABSTRACT

A driver circuit for driving a transmit signal for a line includes a signal amplifier configured to deliver a transmit signal, present at a signal input of the signal amplifier, amplified with a gain to a signal output, a line interface circuit connected between the signal output of the signal amplifier and the line, and a hybrid circuit connected to the line interface circuit, the hybrid circuit configured to suppress the transmit signal and couple a received signal received via the line to a signal input of the signal amplifier to provide impedance synthesis.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/474,636 filed on 26 Jun. 2006, which claims priority to German PatentApplication No. 10 2005 030 049.9 filed on 27 Jun. 2005, the content ofboth applications incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a circuit and method for driving a transmitsignal which, in particular, can be used in transceivers.

BACKGROUND

FIG. 1 shows a conventional driver circuit for driving a transmitsignal. The driver circuit contains an inverting amplifier, the signaloutput of which is fed back via a resistor R_(fb). The signal amplifieramplifies the transmit signal present at the signal input with aparticular gain and delivers the amplified transmit signal via itssignal output to a transformer connected thereto. The transformercouples the amplified transmit signal present at its primary windinginto its secondary winding which is connected, in turn, to a twistedtwo-wire telephone line. The transformer is connected to a referencevoltage potential via an external terminating impedance. The transformeris also fed back to the input via a feedback loop containing a synthesisresistor R_(syn) for generating a synthesized output impedance.

In the driver circuit shown in FIG. 1, the signal output of the signalamplifier is directly connected to the transformer.

From the point of view of the telephone line, the output impedance is:

Z _(Line) =n ²(Z _(cosyn) +Z _(coEXT)),

where the actively synthesized impedance Z_(cosyn) is dependent on thesynthesis resistor R_(syn) and the feedback resistor R_(fb):

$Z_{cosyn} = {Z_{coEXT}\left( \frac{R_{jb}}{R_{syn}} \right)}$

The gain of the driver circuit according to the prior art, shown in FIG.1, is

${G_{tx} = {\frac{U_{tx}}{U_{in}} = {- \frac{\frac{1}{R_{in}}}{\frac{1}{R_{fb}} + {\frac{1}{R_{syn}} \cdot \frac{Z_{t}}{Z_{t} + Z_{L}}}}}}},$

Where Z_(L) is the impedance of the transformer as seen from the signalamplifier and wherein Z_(t) is equal to the external terminatingimpedance Z_(coEXT).

If a class-D signal amplifier is used as signal amplifier which suppliesan amplified pulse-width-modulated signal, an analogue low-pass filteris usually provided between the signal amplifier output and thetransformer in order to filter out a high-frequency switching noise ofthe amplified transmit signal, produced during the amplification by theclass-D signal amplifier. This low-pass filter is also called an OOB(out of band) filter.

FIG. 2 shows a conventional driver circuit for driving a transmit signalwhich contains such an OOB filter. The out-of-band low-pass filter has aparticular transfer function H_(cos) in order to meet the spectral powerdensity requirements PSD of the transmission standard.

In the driver circuit shown in FIG. 2, the impedance, as seen from thetelephone line, is also:

Z _(Line) =n ²(Z _(cosyn) +Z _(coEXT)),

where the synthesized impedance is dependent on the transfer functionH_(cos) of the low-pass filter:

$Z_{cosyn} = {Z_{coEXT}\left( {H_{cob} \cdot \frac{R_{fb}}{R_{syn}}} \right)}$

The gain of the driver circuit is obtained as:

$G_{tx} = {\frac{U_{tx}}{U_{in}} = \frac{\frac{1}{R_{In}}}{\frac{1}{R_{fb}} + {\frac{1}{R_{sys}} \cdot H_{\cos} \cdot \frac{Z_{t}}{Z_{t} + Z_{c}}}}}$

The driver circuit as shown in FIG. 2 has the disadvantage that the gainG_(tx) is dependent on the transfer function H_(cos) of the analoguelow-pass filter. The stability of the feedback loop for the impedancesynthesis is thus dependent on the transfer characteristics of the OOBfilter so that unstable feedback can occur.

SUMMARY

The invention provides a driver circuit for driving a transmit signalfor a line comprising a signal amplifier configured to deliver atransmit signal, present at a signal input of the signal amplifier,amplified with a gain at a signal output, a line interface circuitconnected between the signal output of the signal amplifier and theline, and a hybrid circuit connected to the line interface circuit, thehybrid circuit configured to suppress the transmit signal and couple areceived signal received via the line to a signal input of the signalamplifier to provide impedance synthesis.

The invention also provides a driver circuit for driving a transmitsignal for a line comprising a signal amplifier configured to deliver atransmit signal, present at a signal input of the signal amplifier,amplified with a gain at a signal output, a transformer having asecondary winding is connected to the line and a primary winding havinga first terminal connected to the signal output of the signal amplifierand a second terminal connected to a terminating impedance, and at leastone hybrid circuit having a first feedback impedance configured to feedback the first connection of the primary winding to the signal input ofthe signal amplifier and a second feedback impedance configured to feedback the second connection of the primary winding to the signal input ofthe signal amplifier.

In one embodiment of the driver circuit according to the invention, thehybrid circuit couples a received signal received via the line.

In one embodiment of the driver circuit according to the invention, thereceived signal coupled out by the hybrid circuit is added to thetransmit signal at a summation node for the purpose of impedancesynthesis.

In a further embodiment of the driver circuit according to theinvention, the synthesized impedance can be adjusted independently ofthe gain of the signal amplifier.

In one embodiment of the driver circuit according to the invention, afilter for filtering high-frequency signal disturbances of the amplifiedtransmit signal is provided between the signal amplifier and thetransformer.

In a further embodiment of the driver circuit according to theinvention, the ratio of impedance values of the two feedback impedancescontained in the hybrid circuit is such that the gain is independent ofa filter transfer function of the filter.

In one embodiment of the driver circuit according to the invention, thefilter is an out-of-band filter.

In one embodiment of the driver circuit according to the invention, thesignal amplifier is a class-D signal amplifier which delivers apulse-width-modulated transmit signal.

In one embodiment of the driver circuit according to the invention, thefilter is an analogue low-pass filter for filtering out a high-frequencyswitching noise of the pulse-width-modulated amplified transmit signal.

In one embodiment of the driver circuit according to the invention, thefeedback impedances are formed by resistors.

In one embodiment of the driver circuit according to the invention, thefeedback impedances are integrated in the signal amplifier.

In a preferred embodiment of the driver circuit according to theinvention, the second feedback loop generates a synthesized lineterminating impedance.

In one embodiment of the driver circuit according to the invention, itis of fully differential construction.

The invention also creates a hybrid circuit for a transceiver whichcouples out a received signal received via a line and adds it to atransmit signal of the transceiver at a summation node for the purposeof impedance synthesis of an output impedance of the transceiver.

The invention also creates a method for driving a transmit signal, inwhich a transmit signal is amplified and coupled into a line, wherein areceived signal received via the line is coupled out and added to thetransmit signal for the purpose of impedance synthesis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the text which follows, embodiments of the driver circuit accordingto the invention are described with reference to the attached figures,for explaining features essential to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional driver circuit for driving a transmitsignal;

FIG. 2 shows a further conventional driver circuit with an OOB filter;

FIG. 3 shows a circuit diagram of a first embodiment of the drivercircuit according to the invention for driving a transmit signal;

FIG. 4 shows a fully differential embodiment of the driver circuitaccording to the invention;

FIG. 5 shows transfer functions of a conventional driver circuit withoutimpedance synthesis;

FIG. 6 shows transfer functions of a conventional driver circuit withimpedance synthesis;

FIG. 7 shows transfer functions of a possible embodiment of a drivercircuit according to the invention for driving a transmit signal.

FIG. 8 shows a further embodiment of the driver circuit according to theinvention;

FIG. 9 shows a further embodiment of the driver circuit according to theinvention;

FIG. 10 shows a further embodiment of the driver circuit according tothe invention;

FIG. 11 shows a further embodiment of the driver circuit according tothe invention;

FIG. 12 shows a further embodiment of the driver circuit according tothe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the embodiment shown there contains a drivercircuit 1 according to the invention for driving a transmit signal, asignal amplifier 2 with a signal input 3 and a signal output 4. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 3, the signal amplifier 2 is an invertingamplifier with an input resistor 5 which is connected to a first input 6of the operational amplifier 7, the second input 8 of which is connectedto a reference potential. At the signal output 4, the operationalamplifier 7 is fed back to the first signal input 6 via a feedbackresistor 9. The signal amplifier 2 amplifies the transmit signal presentat the signal input 3 with a particular gain which delivers theamplified transmit signal at its signal output 4 via a line 10 to an OOBlow-pass filter 11. The filter 11 has a particular transfer functionH_(OOB) and filters out high-frequency signal disturbances of theamplified transmit signal.

The driver circuit 1 also contains a transformer 12 with a primarywinding 12-1 and a secondary winding 12-2. The primary winding 12-1 hasa first terminal 13 and a second terminal 14. The first terminal 13 ofthe primary winding 12-1 of the transformer 12 is connected to the OOBfilter 11. The second terminal 14 of the primary winding 12-1 isconnected to a terminating impedance 15. At the secondary winding 12-2of the transformer 12, a line 16, particularly a twisted two-wiretelephone line 16, is connected.

The embodiment of the driver circuit 1 shown in FIG. 3 contains twofeedback loops. The first feedback loop feeds the first connection 13 ofthe primary winding 12-1 back to the first signal input 6 of theoperational amplifier 7 via a first feedback impedance 17. The signalfed back is preferably inverted as shown in FIG. 3.

In addition, the driver circuit 1 contains a second feedback loop whichfeeds the second connection 14 of the primary winding 12-1 back to thefirst signal input 8 of the operational amplifier 7 via a secondfeedback impedance 18. In the driver circuit 1 according to theinvention, the ratio of the resistance values of the two feedbackimpedances 17, 18 is dimensioned in such a manner that the gain isindependent of the filter transfer function of the OOB filter 11.

As can be seen by comparing FIG. 2, which shows a conventional drivercircuit, and FIG. 3, which shows the driver circuit according to theinvention, the driver circuit according to the invention has, apart fromthe usual feedback loop containing the synthesis impedance 18, anadditional feedback loop which is formed by the feedback impedance 17.By providing this additional feedback loop or this additional feedbacksignal path, only the received signal is fed back for impedancesynthesis so that the transmit signal gain is independent of thetransfer characteristics of the OOB filter 11.

The signal amplifier 2 is preferably formed by a class-D signalamplifier which delivers an amplified pulse-width-modulator transmitsignal to the OOB filter 11. The OOB filter 11 is an analogue low-passfilter which filters out the high-frequency disturbances produced duringthe signal amplification or, respectively, the high-frequency switchingnoise of the pulse-width-modulated amplified transmit signal in order toensure, in particular, the spectral power density of the transmit signaldemanded by the standard.

The feedback impedances 17, 18 are preferably formed by resistors. Thesefeedback resistors are preferably integrated in the signal amplifier 2.The output impedance, seen by the telephone line 16, of the drivercircuit 1 according to the invention is:

Zline=n ²·(Zco_syn+Zco_ext),

where the actively synthesized impedance Z_(cosyn) is obtained asfollows:

${Zco\_ syn} = {{{ZCo\_ ext} \cdot \left( \frac{\frac{1}{Rsyn}}{\frac{1}{{Rfb} \cdot {Hoob}}\frac{1}{k \cdot {Rsyn}}} \right)} \approx {{Zco\_ ext} \cdot {\left( {{Hoob} \cdot \frac{Rfb}{Rsyn}} \right).}}}$

Where R_(syn), is the resistance value of the feedback impedance 18,k·R_(syn) is the resistance value of the feedback impedance 17, R_(fb)is the resistance value of the feedback resistor 9, and Zco_(EXT) is theimpedance of the external terminating impedance.

The gain is then obtained as follows:

${Gtx} = {\frac{Utx}{Utn} = \frac{\frac{1}{Rin}}{\frac{1}{Rfb} + {\frac{1}{Rsyn} \cdot {Hoob} \cdot \frac{Zt}{{Zt} + {Zl}} \cdot \left( {1 - {\frac{{Zl} + {Zt}}{Zt} \cdot \frac{1}{k}}} \right)}}}$

if the ratio k between the resistance values of the two feedbackimpedances 17, 18 is selected in such a manner that

$\left( {1 - {\frac{{Zl} + {Zt}}{Zt} \cdot \frac{1}{k}}} \right) = 0$${i.e.k} = \frac{{Zl} + {Zt}}{Zt}$

then the gain G is independent of the transfer function H_(OOB) of thefilter 11:

${Gtx} = {\frac{Utx}{Uin} = {- {\frac{Rfb}{Rin}.}}}$

In the embodiment of the driver circuit 1 as shown in FIG. 3, a changein the transfer function of the OOB filter 11 has no effect whatsoeveron the gain of the transmit signal. This has the advantage that the OOBfilter 11 can be designed independently of the signal amplifier 2. Theimpedance ratio is, for example about 7, the resistance value of thefeedback impedance 18 being about 20 kΩ.

The external terminating impedance 15, shown in FIG. 3, can consist of aconventional resistor or of a complex switching network containingcoils, capacitors and resistors.

In one embodiment, the embodiment is of fully differential constructionas is shown in FIG. 4.

In the fully differential embodiment according to FIG. 4, the OOB filter11 is formed by an in-phase reactor 11-1 and by a number of capacitors11-2, 11-3, 11-4, 11-5. In this arrangement, a first pair of capacitors11-2, 11-3 is connected to the primary windings and a second pair ofcapacitors 11-4, 11-5 is connected to the secondary windings of the twotransformers 12A, 12B. The secondary windings of the transformers 12A,12B are also connected to one another via a capacitor 19.

FIG. 5 shows transfer functions of conventional driver circuits withoutimpedance synthesis. The upper line shows the transfer function betweenthe driver input and the telephone line and the lower line shows thetransfer function between the driver input and the driver output.

FIG. 6 shows transfer functions of conventional driver circuits withstandard impedance synthesis. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the transferfunctions have peaks at about 2 MHz which illustrate the impairedstability of the signal amplifier 1 due to the presence of the OOBfilter 11.

FIG. 7 shows transfer functions of the driver circuit 1 as shown inFIGS. 3, 4. The upper line again shows transfer functions between thedriver input 3 and the telephone line 16. The lower line shows thetransfer function between the signal amplifier input 3 and the signalamplifier output 4. As can be seen clearly from FIG. 7, the transferpeaks in the driver circuit 1 are flattened distinctly in comparisonwith the variation shown in FIG. 6.

By providing an additional feedback loop, the driver circuit 1 thusachieves a situation where the gain is independent of the transfercharacteristics of the OBB filter 11 and where no instabilities canoccur in the feedback loop.

FIG. 8 shows a further embodiment of the driver circuit 1 according tothe invention. In the driver circuit 1 shown in FIG. 8, a signalamplifier 20 comprises only one feedback impedance 9 whereas thefeedback impedance 18, together with the feedback impedance 17 and thepreceding inverter, form a hybrid circuit 21. The hybrid circuit 21Acouples out a received signal received via the line 16 for furthersignal processing. The received signal is fed into the transmit signalpath at a summation node 22, i.e. is added to the transmit signal to beamplified as shown in FIG. 8. Using the hybrid circuit 21, an impedancesynthesis is produced, the synthesized impedance being adjustableindependently of the gain of the signal amplifier 20. In an alternativeembodiment, two hybrid circuits can also be provided, a first hybridcircuit being provided for coupling out the received signal and theother hybrid circuit being provided for the impedance synthesis. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 8, the hybrid circuit 21A is used both forimpedance synthesis and for coupling out the received signal. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 8, a filter 11 is provided between the signalamplifier 20 and a line interface circuit 23A which is formed by thetransformer 12 and the terminating impedance 15. The filter 11 ispreferably an out-of-band filter and is used for filteringhigh-frequency signal disturbances of the amplified transmit signal. Ina preferred embodiment, the ratio of the impedance values of the twofeedback impedances 17, 18 contained in the hybrid circuit 21A is set insuch a manner that the gain of the signal amplifier 20 is independent ofthe filter transfer function H(f) of the filter 11. The signal amplifier20 is preferably a class-D signal amplifier which delivers apulse-width-modulator transmit signal, the filter 11 filtering out ahigh-frequency switching noise of the pulse-width-modulated amplifiertransmit signal.

FIG. 9 shows an alternative embodiment of the driver circuit 1 accordingto the invention, in which the filter 11 is not provided, and the signaloutput 4 of the signal amplifier 20 is connected directly to the firstterminal 13 of the primary winding 12-1 of the transformer 12.

FIG. 10 shows a further embodiment of the driver circuit 1 according tothe invention with an alternative hybrid circuit 21B. As seen from theprimary winding of the transformer 12, there is a complex impedanceZ_(L+T)(Z_(Line+Transformer)) composed of the line 16 and thetransformer 12. The impedance of the terminating impedance 15 is

$Z_{\frac{{LT} + T}{k}},$

in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, where k is a real number. In apreferred range of values, the real number k is 3.2 k6.0. The hybridcircuit 21B is connected to the first terminal 13 and to the secondterminal 14 of the primary winding 12-1 of the transformer 12. Thehybrid circuit 21B has an inverting amplifier, the input of which isconnected to the first terminal 13, and a second amplifier which isconnected to the second terminal 14 and the gain of which is 1+k. Theoutput signals of the two signal amplifiers contained in the hybridcircuit 21B are added and supplied to a further signal amplifier whichdelivers the signal amplified with a gain factor G. The signal coupledout of the hybrid circuit 21B is also supplied to a summation node 22and added to the transmit signal before the signal input of the signalamplifier 20.

FIG. 11 shows a further embodiment of the driver circuit 1 according tothe invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the complexterminating impedance 15, the impedance of which is

$Z_{\frac{{LT} + T}{k}},$

is connected between the signal amplifier 20 and the primary winding12-1 of the transformer 12. The filter 11 shown in FIG. 11 is notprovided in an alternative embodiment so that the signal output of thesignal amplifier 20 is connected directly to the terminating impedance15. The tap for a hybrid circuit 21C is made between the first terminal13 of the primary winding 12-1 of the transformer 12 and a node 25. Thesignal picked up at the node 13 is delivered by a signal amplifier withthe gain

$- \frac{k + 1}{k}$

to a summation node provided in the hybrid circuit 21C and added to thesignal branched off at the branching node 25. The sum signal isamplified at a further signal amplifier G and applied to the summationnode 22.

FIG. 12 shows a further embodiment of the driver circuit 1 according tothe invention. The embodiment shown in FIG. 12 is of fully differentialconstruction and has a fully differential hybrid circuit 21D forcoupling out the received signal received via the line 16 to a signaloutput 24 a, 24 b. In addition, the hybrid circuit 21D is used forproducing an impedance synthesis, wherein the gain of the fullydifferential signal amplifier 200 can be adjusted independently of thesynthesized impedance. This is achieved by feeding back the signalcoupled out to the input side of the signal amplifier 200 via resistors26 a, 26 b at summation nodes 22 a, 22 b. Furthermore, FIG. 12 shows thecoupling capacitors 27 a, 27 b, 28 a, 28 b present at the signal input 3a, 3 b and at a signal output 24 a, 24 b.

What is claimed is:
 1. A driver circuit for driving a transmit signalfor a line, comprising: a signal amplifier configured to deliver atransmit signal, present at a signal input of the signal amplifier,amplified with a gain to a signal output; a transformer having asecondary winding configured to be coupled to the line and a primarywinding having a first terminal connected to the signal output of thesignal amplifier and a second terminal connected to a terminatingimpedance; and at least one hybrid circuit having a first feedbackimpedance configured to feed back the first connection of the primarywinding to the signal input of the signal amplifier and a secondfeedback impedance configured to feed back the second connection of theprimary winding to the signal input of the signal amplifier.
 2. A drivercircuit according to claim 1, wherein a received signal received via theline is coupled out by the hybrid circuit.
 3. A driver circuit accordingto claim 2, wherein the received signal coupled out by the hybridcircuit is added to the transmit signal at a summation node forproviding impedance synthesis.
 4. A driver circuit according to claim 3,wherein the synthesized impedance is adjustable independently of thegain of the signal amplifier.
 5. A driver circuit according to claim 1,further comprising a filter between the signal amplifier and thetransformer and configured to filter high-frequency signal disturbancesof the amplified transmit signal.
 6. A driver circuit according to claim5, wherein a ratio of impedance values of the two feedback impedancescontained in the hybrid circuit is such that the gain is independent ofa filter transfer function of the filter.
 7. A driver circuit accordingto claim 5, wherein the filter is an out-of-band filter.
 8. A drivercircuit according to claim 1, wherein the signal amplifier is a class-Dsignal amplifier configured to deliver a pulse-width-modulated transmitsignal.
 9. A driver circuit according to claim 7, wherein the filter isan analogue low-pass filter configured to filter a high-frequencyswitching noise of the pulse-width-modulated amplified transmit signal.10. A driver circuit according to claim 1, wherein the feedbackimpedances are formed by resistors.
 11. A driver circuit according toclaim 1, wherein the driver circuit is of differential construction. 12.A driver circuit according to claim 1, wherein the line is a telephoneline.
 13. A driver circuit for driving a transmit signal for a telephoneline, comprising: a signal amplifier configured to amplify a transmitsignal, present at a signal input of the signal amplifier, with a gainand deliver the transmit signal to a signal output; a filter configuredto filter high-frequency signal disturbances of the amplified transmitsignal in accordance with a filter transfer function; a transformerhaving a secondary winding configured to be coupled to the telephoneline and a primary winding having a first terminal connected to thefilter and a second terminal connected to a terminating impedance; afirst feedback loop configured to feed back the first connection of theprimary winding to the signal input of the signal amplifier via a firstfeedback resistor; a second feedback loop configured to feed back thesecond connection of the primary winding to the signal input of thesignal amplifier via a second feedback impedance; and wherein a ratio ofthe resistance values of the two feedback impedances is such that thegain is independent of the filter transfer function of the filter.
 14. Adriver circuit according to claim 13, wherein the signal amplifier is aclass-D signal amplifier configured to deliver a pulse-width-modulatedtransmit signal.
 15. A driver circuit according to claim 14, wherein thefilter is an analogue low-pass filter configured to filter ahigh-frequency switching noise of the pulse-width-modulated amplifiedtransmit signal.
 16. A driver circuit according to claim 13, wherein thefeedback impedances are formed by resistors.
 17. A driver circuitaccording to claim 13, wherein the second feedback loop is configured togenerate a synthesized line terminating impedance.
 18. A driver circuitaccording to claim 13, wherein the driver circuit is of differentialconstruction.
 19. A driver circuit for driving a transmit signal for aline, comprising: a signal amplifier configured to deliver a transmitsignal, present at a signal input of the signal amplifier, amplifiedwith a gain to a signal output; a line interface circuit connectedbetween the signal output of the signal amplifier and the line; and ahybrid circuit connected to the line interface circuit, the hybridcircuit configured to suppress the transmit signal and couple a receivedsignal received via the line to a signal input of the signal amplifierto provide impedance synthesis.
 20. A driver circuit according to claim19, wherein the driver circuit is of differential construction.